Sess Kilgreen Passage Tomb, Co. Tyrone

Enclosed in a small hilltop grove of trees and hidden from all but the most determined antiquarian, Sess Kilgreen is a small, anomalous Passage Tomb type monument with some fine carving work very reminiscent of carvings seen at Loughcrew, Co. Meath. The similarity is so close that one expert speculated that either master or student had moved from Meath to Tyrone at the time this monument was created to carve the designs seen here.

Sadly, this tomb is unprotected and open to the elements which has led to rapid degradation of the rock art, most is now either moss covered or eroded away. With some careful lighting I was able to bring out the detail of these hard to make out designs.

The expertly rendered nested lozenge shapes seen here are very reminiscent of similar designs seen at Newgrange, Fourknocks and Dowth, around the Boyne Valley. Moss has obliterated the top half of this carving.

The tomb has an extremely short passage leading into a wide, almost rectangular chamber. The roof has long gone. The design of the tomb itself is very simple, there are no side chambers off the main chamber and the surrounding cairn is relatively small.

Quite close to the main passage tomb, this solitary stone stands in the middle of a field behind a farmhouse. It is believed to have come from the main passage tomb above, possibly it was once a roof stone as none of the chamber orthostats are missing. It could also quite possibly be an entrance stone to the tomb.

On one face of the squat stone there are many carved designs and cup marks to be found, unfortunately the elements have taken an even worse toll on these along with years of scratching by cattle, most of the rock art is only visible with careful artifical lighting.

The name 'Sess Kilgreen' means 'The place of the Church of the Sun'. In Martin Brennan's book 'The Stones of Time' it is claimed that the passage tomb faces the rising summer solstice sun but the growth of trees and condition of the tomb itself would most likely block any direct sunlight from illuminating the carvings at the rear of the chamber.